The Department of Agriculture's food safety arm issued a statement Saturday detailing the Class I recall it gave on fresh and frozen beef, pork, turkey, and chicken products from Gourmet Boutique, a Jamaica, Queens-based food manufacturer.
According to the USDA, the possible contamination was discovered by the FSIS and Florida authorities after conducting microbiological tests on sample products.
All in all, 35 products marketed under the brands Gourmet Boutique, Jan's and Archer Farms are subject for recall. The FSIS said the fresh foods were manufactured between April 19 through 24, 2008, while the the frozen foods go as far back as Oct. 23, 2007, through April 23, 2008.
The Gourmet Boutique product line includes Honey Chicken Salad, Chicken Burrito, and Wrapanini Meatball Parmigiana, among others. The bacteria can cause listeriosis - a potentially fatal illness which produces symptoms which include high fever, severe headache, neck stiffness, and nausea. The FSIS said the disease may also result to miscarriages and stillbirths in pregnant women.
The USDA statement stressed that so far, there have been no reports of illnesses associated with the recall. Consumers may contact the FSIS at (347) 887-0083.
